A Healthy Food Pyramid For A Balanced Diet

Are You Eating A Balanced Diet?

A New Food Pyramid

This healthy food pyramid is illustrated below. The recommendation is to select most of the foods you eat from the group at the base of the pyramid, with the least from the top of the pyramid. In addition, the authors also advise daily aerobic exercise, drinking 5-8 glasses of water a day, drinking green tea, stress management, weight control, and nutrient supplementation.

Food Groups in the New Pyramid

Proteins.Proteins provide essential amino acids that the body needs to grow and function. While animal sources of protein such as red meat and dairy products contain all of the amino acids required by the body, the downside is that these sources are high in saturated fat, which if consumed in large quantities can lead to weight gain and disease. Better choices of protein are lean white meats, such as turkey and chicken, fish (particularly salmon), soy and vegetables such as lentils, beans and nuts.

Carbohydrates.While carbs are an important part of our diet, and provide the fuel needed by the body for physical activity, not all carbs are the same. Refined carbs such as white bread, rice and pasta, sugars and pastries are rapidly broken down into glucose, resulting in insulin spikes and a craving for more carbs. Over time, this can lead to health issues and weight management problems. The Glycemic Load (GL) is a scale which indicates how fast a food is converted into glucose. Foods with a low GL are healthier, and examples are oats, beans, brown rice and whole grain bread. See this list of carbohydrate foods.

Fats. Fat is dense in calories, and is the way the body stores energy, so high fat foods can easily lead to weight gain. However, more important than the amount of fat you eat is the type of fat. Saturated fats and Trans fats increase the risk of heart disease and can raise cholesterol levels. These are found in butter, animal meats, coconut oil and margarine. Unsaturated fats have anti-inflammatory properties and reduce the risk of heart disease. Examples of these are nuts, fish, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed and lean meat. The key is to replace unhealthy fats with healthy fats.

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